I'm killing off 'The Undercover Exec'

[The undercover exec]

In the end he felt all wrong. Many thanks for the which blog advice - I've even followed the advice that said 'get reading' - scary what I don't know...and may never grasp. (HTML mostly).

Many thanks for the commentary in the forum. I think I'm going to work on the content and approach.

For those who like stats the three posts on the blog got 67 visits, no comments, 14 click throughs to blogs and sites referenced, whichs 20% of visitors, I found this a surprising stat.

http://theundercoverexec.wordpress.com/ (the links here because secretly I'd like to get to the 100 mark).

Cheerio

 

[Cornish Steve]

But don't let that put you off following your dreams. The key is to look at the longer term: What must you do to attain your goal in life? Be sure to pursue those tasks diligently and enthusiastically. Too many of us lose sight of our vision and, looking back on life, wonder what we accomplished.

 

[Ashley_Price]

I'm no blogging expert, but I have to say the site you send us to does seem very bland.

Aside from this, you cannot expect people to dash to your blog with just three posts, you need to build up a following.

I have a blog in three places - here on UKBF, on Blogger and on the Telegraph website. The information is pretty much the same on all three but I am trying to spread "the word".

Blogging is something you have to keep doing (and keep promoting). I don't know if my blogs have had 61 views between them.

As Steve says above you shouldn't be put off your dreams. Getting a business going in any climate is difficult enough, but in the current one you need to work even harder. Killing a business off is the easy way out.

There is an apocryphal story about a chap who buys a mine. He digs and digs and digs, and apart for the occasional nugget he doesn't get much gold. Eventually he gives up, he sells the mine for a fraction of what it cost him.

However, the person he sells it to has done a bit of research. He's has geological surveys done on the ground, etc. When he starts digging, he changes the angle by just 5 degrees. Within a couple of days he hits a large seam of gold! Soon he becomes very rich indeed.

So, in short, really look at what you're doing to promote your business and get new customers, it might just be something small that you've missed. Why not get someone else to look over it with you and get them to give you honest criticism - you don't want your mum or someone saying "That's nice dear!" That tells you nothing.

 

[murdoch]

Hi Undercover,
no really I don't think you need to kill it off- unless it actually has a NEGATIVE effect on your business.
I don't think its awful, and to be honest there is a lot to be learned from the PROCESS of having a blog...its a long term thing.
From my blog www.portraitxpress.wordpress.com
I have found the following, apart from a small increase in sales
- its inspired me to read other people's blogs in similar fields, which has then enabled me to learn more things (and without learning, what are we..?)
-its taught me a bit about blog software
-i have opened my eyes more to what blogs are out there...to be honest so much blogging is used nowadays, in marketing, news, business, every conceviable aspect of life
-given me a point of contact with other people which blog
-inspired me to KEEP POSTING and to keep posting you need to keep informed
etc, etc, i could go on.
so- dont give up yet, its the process which counts!!!

 

[cjd]

I don't beleieve that your blog ever stood a chance of getting anywhere because you are not an expert on what you are writing about and you are simply regurgitating anecdotal business trivia picked up from UKBF.

However, that's just my opinion.

I now think that you are completely wrong again in taking it down after only 3 posts. If after 12 months of weekly and, sometimes daily posts, you are still not getting a readership you'd have good cause to pack it in - but 3 posts just tells me you were never serious to start with.

 

[Ashley_Price]

I don't beleieve that your blog ever stood a chance of getting anywhere because you are not an expert on what you are writing about and you are simply regurgitating anecdotal business trivia picked up from UKBF.

However, that's just my opinion.

I now think that you are completely wrong again in taking it down after only 3 posts. If after 12 months of weekly and, sometimes daily posts, you are still not getting a readership you'd have good cause to pack it in - but 3 posts just tells me you were never serious to start with.

A lot of what CJD says here makes sense. Your blog currently seems to be an index for topics in UKBF and other forums/websites.

You should only post what you know about. You will see from my blog posts that, yes, I have used information provided by others, but only when I've tested it in my own business and found it does (or doesn't) work.

All that your blog is currently doing is, indirectly, advertising other people. You should be using it to promote your business or, alternatively, giving people free tips, advice, etc. So far your blog says to other people "These people know more about such-and-such than I do, go to them and not me."

Have a good think about what you really want your blog to do for you and then work towards that.

 

[directmarketingadvice]

I don't beleieve that your blog ever stood a chance of getting anywhere because you are not an expert on what you are writing about

I think that's pretty much it.

Think about the business blogs you read: don't you read them because

(a) you believe the person is an expert

or

(b) they're enterntaining

or

(c) you know the person and are, therefore, interested in what they're writing about

If a blog has none of these things, then you'll struggle to get readers.

Steve

 

[The undercover exec]

A few learnings from me...

• Start right - I was going to go for Blogger but was guided towards Wordpress a good move. What I didn't clock was that I couldn't change the user name and the URL....
• I learned a lot in a short time. So much that I'd rather shape it slightly differenty going forward.
• It's fun especially a bit of 'discussion' in the forum
• It's immediate and right now. High level is just not relevant enough.
• The forum-blog-forum link works - now over the 100 visit mark.
• Got to get the blog personality right. I didn't.
• CJD...you win, however I'd argue (as per comments above) that the reputation is built over time.
• I think people need to get 'why this blog', if it is a marketing tool then it is a marketing tool and people can digest it.
• There is a massive amount to learn about the web/blog/internet but delightfully you can start simple.
• The stats could get addictive.

I'll not be giving up on this. I will however take a step back and have a think before going again.

 

[Ian J]

A few learnings from me...

• The forum-blog-forum link works - now over the 100 visit mark.

• 
  
  I'm not sure that the above is an accurate stat as people have looked at your blog because you have been asking questions about blogging and people are looking to see what you have done in order to answer your questions. If you stopped asking questions I think that the number of visits to your site from UKBF would drop.
  
  I get between 50 and 100 people every day looking at my blog which I don't even link to here. Judging by my stats they find my site because they are searching for information on a subject that I have written about and the blog is well rated by Google as it's a fairly niche subject that I write about.
  
  You need to decide why you want to blog and move forward from there. My industry is pretty boring at the best of times and I have always struggled to write articles but we now live in interesting times for the banking and commercial finance communities and I can find enough to write about to keep it reasonably fresh. Of course it would be nice if one or two people who read it were to contact me to use my services and to that end it has so far been successful as it has lead to quite a few enquiries

 

[Ashley_Price]

I'll not be giving up on this. I will however take a step back and have a think before going again.

That's great to hear. It might seem like we are just having a go, but please take this as constructive criticism.

 

[DuaneJackson]

Did no-one put "perseverance" on the Golden rules thread?

I'm with CJD.

 

[The undercover exec]

I'll not be giving up on this. .

Duane - gone but not forgotten, including the post that you put in for the Golden Rules. I'm just going to take a look at the execution, come back and do it better.

 

[cjd]

I'm just going to take a look at the execution, come back and do it better.

Forget the 'execution' if you have something genuinely interesting and unique to say it will be read and followed. Original content is what you need and you're not going to get it by farming UKBF.

 

[tom111]

I'm not sure I would ever read a business blog unless it was by someone with a proven track record in business. Someone who runs a business with £5-10 million turnover, and £1 million profit would do.

There are millions of business blogs out there run by people who couldn't run a window cleaning business.

 

[The undercover exec]

tick for both of those

by execution I did mean the content, it wasn't right

 

[estwig]

He's still not dead yet then???

You wanna dig a deeper hole mate, he seems to keep coming up!!

 

[cjd]

From what I have read, I would say that you write well, it's just that you know sh1t about your subject; so what you write is platitudinous junk.

I am beginning to warm to your attempt at blagging a blog but you need much more of yourself in it - a blog is personal, not third personal: their origin is the diary and the editorial; not the magazine.

You need to find your voice.

 

[DuaneJackson]

tick for both of those

Saying it is easy. Proving it is another thing. Unless you want to put a company name on the table it means diddly squat.

But you're softening CJD, so you're doing something right,